Window coverings may include a sheet of material that is extendable to a deployed or lowered position and retractable to a raised position, or a stowed position. Examples of window coverings can be appreciated from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,777,800, 4,610,292, 6,079,639, 6,402,110, 6,662,846, 6,679,309, 6,923,236, 7,353,856, 7,654,299, 7,849,907, 7,950,437, 8,079,397, 8,113,261, 8,132,610, 8,261,808, 8,267,144, 8,511,363, 8,544,522, 8,561,665, 8,684,063, 8,757,237, 8,763,671, D683,563, D672,179, D666,043, D651,438, and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2006/0157204, 2007/0175593, 2007/0175595, 2008/0277074, 2008/0295975, 2011/0220301, 2011/0247765, 2011/0247762, 2011/0277943, 2012/0305199, and 2013/0048233.
On occasion, children have been able to get behind a lowered window covering and become entangled in one of the lift cords. If the lift cord is around the child's neck and the child falls, the cord could act as a noose and strangle the child. For example, there have been incidents of child entanglements in lift cords of venetian blinds, Roman shades, and other types of window coverings. As a result, the art has developed various types of child safety devices that are intended to prevent deaths of children who become entangled in lift cords. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,318,251, 7,261,138, 7,225,850, 7,117,918, 7,086,446, 7,000,672, 6,948,546, 6,918,425, 6,860,312, 6,637,493, 6,484,787, 6,431,248, 5,630,458, 5,533,559 and 4,909,298 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2008/0110581, 2007/0023149 and 2006/0144526 disclose child safety devices for blinds. Child safety devices may be configured to keep the lift cords taught so that the cords cannot be pulled away from the window covering material and form a noose or release the cord from the shade when a child becomes entangled in the shade. Most, if not all of the cord release devices are not well suited for use on Roman shades. Moreover, many conventional child safety devices for window coverings are visible from the front of the shade and detract from the aesthetic effect of the shade.
Further, window coverings often fail to permit a user to easily wash window covering material of a window covering. Nor do window coverings permit a user to easily replace window covering material if a new aesthetic effect for the window covering is desired. Instead, consumers typically have to purchase an entirely new window covering, remove their old window covering, and mount their newly bought replacement window covering. This can be costly and time consuming for a consumer.